Significant reforms are still needed at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey – and public skepticism of the agency remains high – but its chairman told state lawmakers yesterday that he’s made tangible progress in the form of increased transparency, quarterly financial reports and more public input.

“Believe it or not, we now listen to the public’s comments before, rather than after we vote. It’s a little embarrassing to admit that,” said John Degnan.

“A great number of our constituents have a degree of cynicism and disbelief that the agency is being run for the proper reasons, being run efficiently,” commented Assemblyman John Wisniewski.

Degnan agreed, saying: “I do believe that the organizational structure of the Port Authority is dysfunctional; that the executive director and the deputy executive director positions — which were appointed by the governors of the respective states — are a clumsy, dysfunctional way to run an organization that spends $7 billion a year.”